novel bin Chapter 200: Budget Overrun, Not Enough to Buy a Space Ring
Chapter 200: Budget Overrun, Not Enough to Buy a Space Ring
Thorin had heard about this guy the most among the Holy Humans.
During this period, the expeditionary force often saw people from Great Xia using this big machine for training or maintenance.
In Thorin's eyes, the deep, powerful roar of the tank engine, and even the ground crushed by the steel tracks, were all so captivating!
Lin Mo observed the expressions on their faces.
This list was drafted after discussions with Zhao Gang and Long Zhan.
Handguns are not very effective against demons, so they were not included.
Vehicle-mounted laser weapons require a massive charging system and are complex to maintain, so we didn't put them on the vehicle; it's more cost-effective to use them ourselves.
The other party claimed it was disposable equipment, which tricked them.
Helicopters are too difficult to operate; teaching them would take forever, so they gave up.
As for the more powerful missiles, they are classified as strategic weapons and their sale is currently strictly restricted.
These indigenous people haven't learned from history or received detailed training. If one of them were to have a moment of folly and accidentally shoot at the portal, things could get really messy.
Even so, these conventional weapons on the list are enough to deliver a devastating blow to the warfare landscape of Terra.
"Cough!" Thorin coughed heavily, straightened his back, and tried to appear calm.
He looked at Lin Mo, stroked his beard, and raised his chin at a forty-five-degree angle.
"We dwarves...we want them all!"
"I just don't know how much stock you can provide?"
Thorin glanced at Lin Mo with a hint of provocation in his eyes.
Grom was filled with excitement and nodded vigorously, as if he already had the weapons in his hands.
Upon hearing this, Lin Mo couldn't help but look at Thorin with newfound respect.
This dwarf is using reverse psychology now?
Lin Mo smiled and leaned back in his chair.
"Elder Thorin is indeed generous."
"But don't rush. How much we can offer depends on how much of your stuff we need."
Thorin's eyes widened. "Then what are we waiting for? Choose already!"
Lin Mo turned to look at Zhao Gang and Long Zhan, and turned off the translator to discuss:
"Brother Zhao, General Long, what do you mean?"
Zhao Gang looked somewhat excited.
"Runes! We need to exchange for some dwarven runes!"
"Runes can be inlaid into everything, with infinitely wide applications!"
"Weight reduction, stability, sharpness, robustness... if these were applied to our industry and military, the resulting improvements would be immeasurable!"
"And metals! Mithril, a room-temperature superconductor, is essential for controlled nuclear fusion and other technological fields!"
"We also need to purchase more of the metals used to synthesize 'Zheng Gold'!"
Lin Mo nodded, indicating that there was no problem, and then looked at Long Zhan.
Long Zhan frowned slightly and said:
"Our expeditionary force has limited equipment, and we don't have any extra to sell to them."
"Therefore, we can discard none of their weapons and equipment."
"We exchanged them with the Holy Humans before, and it turns out that we, without magic power, can't use their magical equipment."
Dragon Warrior's index finger touched a line on Thorin's list.
"We want this!"
Lin Mo and Zhao Gang's eyes met at the same time.
[Space Ring (one): Internal space approximately 1,000 cubic meters.]
[Price: 50 million gold coins.]
This is still the cost price; if it were the market price, it would probably be around 100 million gold coins!
In addition to the benchmark grain price set by Zhao Gang, there's also the price difference in US dollars...
In terms of actual price, Da Xia can offer a discount of about four times the cost price!
Fifty million gold coins sounds terrifying, but when converted, it's a deal that the Great Xia Dynasty can completely accept, or even make a killing!
"We have to take it!" Long Zhan continued.
"With the spatial ring, the teleportation portal's transport efficiency will be greatly improved!"
"More importantly, once our 'super mech' is no longer in service, this thing will be the perfect portable hangar!"
"Commander Lin, you can easily store the five-meter-tall mech in your ring and engage in combat anytime, anywhere!"
"Your magic, combined with your survivability and individual combat skills, will elevate you to a whole new strategic level!"
Lin Mo's heart skipped a beat.
Does General Long mean he wants to buy it for his own use?
Is it inappropriate?
But he couldn't bring himself to refuse.
That's a spatial ring!
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call it a divine artifact; it would be a lie to say Lin Mo wasn't tempted.
Finally, the three of them reached an agreement.
The Great Xia wants all the dwarven runes, rare metals, and that spatial ring.
Total price of the list: 51 million gold coins.
Converted to the US dollar exchange rate set by Zhao Gang, it exceeds 17 billion US dollars.
Even with Zhao Gang's questionable tactics when negotiating exchange rates with the Holy Humans and Elves, the actual value of the equipment that Great Xia needed to pay was still as high as five billion US dollars.
This price is nothing to Da Xia.
The purchase amount still startled Lin Mo, because the expeditionary force wasn't based in the Great Xia on Blue Star!
I wonder if the expeditionary force had any extra equipment.
The expeditionary force carried a limited amount of equipment, and this sum of money made "Chief Steward Zhao," who was familiar with the family's assets, frown deeply.
"We sell one tank for $8.5 million, so even if we sell 100 tanks, it would only be $850 million. That's just a fraction of the $17 billion mark."
Zhao Gang tapped his fingers on the table, looking troubled.
"How about... we sell those industrial machine tools to them? The dwarves would definitely love it. And we could also bundle in some of our stock of liquor?"
He shook his head after he finished speaking, saying that all these things combined were just a drop in the ocean.
Long Zhan, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke.
"The value of equipment is nothing compared to that of ammunition."
He looked at Zhao Gang.
"We can sell them some cubic nitrogen munitions."
Zhao Gang was taken aback at first, but after thinking about it, he felt it was feasible.
Ammunition, being a consumable item, is the real bulk of the cost!
It's a bottomless pit!
The cubic nitrogen ammunition was originally intended for our own use, but we're selling the regular ammunition that was shipped over earlier first.
Now that we've used up our regular ammunition and the previous ammunition from the Green Leaf City raid, we'll probably run out of ammunition. So, choosing the more expensive cubic nitrogen ammunition isn't a bad idea.
In that case, the price should be about right!
For example, the Land Shield 2000 short-range air defense weapon system uses 30mm armor-piercing rounds, and the cost of a single round is about 2000 yuan.
其7管30毫米速射炮射速达4000-4200发/分钟，若持续射击1分钟，仅弹药成本即超过800万元。
Zhao Gang was using US dollars at the time, but the same type of 30mm armor-piercing round from the United States was priced at $1700 per round in the list given to the dwarves.
That translates to around 12000 yuan.
Compared to a cost of 2000 yuan per shot, 12000 yuan per shot is six times more expensive!
Zhao Gang's breathing became rapid.
Cubic nitrogen ammunition costs ten times more than ordinary ammunition, so the price it fetches when sold to dwarves...
Shouldn't it be increased tenfold?
Seventeen thousand US dollars per shot!
If the Land Shield 2000 fires for one minute, nearly 70 million US dollars will be wiped out!
Surely a dwarf wouldn't only buy enough ammo for one minute?
Steady!